Biography John Altoon

With energetic abstract expression, an aggressive personality, and reckless life style, John Altoon was a major presence in the 1950 and 60s art scene of Los Angeles that included Robert Irwin, Ed Kienholz and Ed Moses. Artistically he became known for his oil paintings and his influence as an art instructor.

In the magazine "Art in America," February 1999, he was referred to, relative to that era, as "the baddest of the bad boys" [84], one who rode motorcycles at high speeds, drove cars blindfolded, and also suffered from schizophrenia.

He grew up in Los Angeles and after high school graduation, served in the Navy as a radar technician in the Pacific during World War II. At the end of the war, he used the GI Bill to go to ar
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